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MN-08: Republican Legislators Endorse Stewart Mills For Congress

Republican Stewart Mills III of Nisswa has secured endorsements from 16 Republican members of the Minnesota Legislature in his bid for the 8th district congressional seat held by DFL Rep. Rick Nolan of Crosby, his campaign announced Wednesday. This list includes every Republican state representative or state senator whose district encompasses a portion of the 8th congressional district.*

Nine of the legislators endorsing Mills reside in the 8th congressional district:

Joining the legislators of the 8th congressional district in endorsing Mills is Rep. Tom Hackbarth of Cedar. Hackbarth’s district is contained within the boundaries of 6th congressional district, but his hometown of Anoka was part of the Fighting 8th during the 1970’s.

In a prepared statement released by the Friends of Stewart Mills, Ruud said that Mills “fits our district,” while Minority Leader Daudt emphasized Mills’ status as a state and local business leader:

Stewart Mills has been an integral business leader in our district and across the state of Minnesota for many years. His leadership and problem solving ability will be a greatly needed addition to Washington.

Mills,41, announced a formal challenge to Nolan, 69, earlier this month and garnered national attention for significantly outraising the incumbent in his first quarter of fundraising. These endorsements from every Republican legislator who represents a portion of the 8th district indicate strong support for his campaign from within the party and are the first to come from Minnesotans. Mills’ only other endorsement in the race comes from former 8th District Republican Rep. Chip Cravaack, who previously issued a statement of support in a fundraising email sent to supporters.

Nolan defeated Cravaack in one of the most hotly contested and expensive congressional races of 2012.The district remains competitive and the 2014 congressional race is once again expected to attract millions in outside spending. Both the Rothenberg Political Report and the Cook Political Report currently rate the district as a ‘Lean Democrat.”

*ICFP noted that Rep. Tom Dettmer was the only Republican legislator representing part of the 8th district who was not included in Mills’ press release. Dettmer could not be reached for comment, but a spokesperson for Friends of Stewart Mills stated that Dettmer had indeed endorsed Mills but was inadvertently omitted from the list.